“Listening is the most powerful thing you can do.”
It’s a valuable mantra, especially in horsemanship. Listening to horses. Listening to those with more experience. Listening to peer-reviewed research. And, for me, especially: Listening to readers.
Our new column, Ask the Expert was prompted by an email question from my friend, Nina Fuller. She asked a horsemanship question, and I thought, ‘Hmm. I know some folks who can answer this best!”
Ask the Expert is all about listening to horse-related questions readers and helping them expand their learning with advice from our partners, professionals who share a like-mindedness with BestHorsePractices and its principles. Got a question? Contact us!
For our first question below, we ask horsemen Elijah Moore and Libby Lyman. Stay tuned for their recommendations next week.
Our initial Ask the Expert query comes from Nina Fuller at Lily Brook Farm in Hollis, Maine. She writes:
My question: I have a horse that was given to me two years ago. She’s great except for a few things. She won’t stop moving sideways and backwards when I go to get on. If I was younger ,I would just hop on. That’s what someone has been doing all her life. She is 18.
But now that I am not young, I want her to stand still so I can get on her when I am alone and no one is holding her. I have tried to put her against a rail or a fence, but she just wiggles away and avoids me as best she can.
Any suggestions?
Nina
Nina Fuller